Savannah, GA.—Pope Benedict XVI has accepted the resignation of Bishop J. Kevin Boland, 76, from the pastoral governance of the Diocese of Savannah and has named Franciscan Father Gregory John Hartmayer, OFM Conv, 59, a priest serving as pastor in the Archdiocese of Atlanta, to succeed him.

The resignation acceptance and appointment were announced in Washington, D.C. today by Monsignor Jean-FrançoisLantheaume, chargéd’affairesat the Apostolic Nunciature to the United States.

Bishop-elect Hartmayer’s Episcopal Ordination will take place at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, October 18 in the Cathedral of John the Baptist in Savannah.

Pope Benedict has named Bishop Boland, who becomes Bishop Emeritus today, as Apostolic Administrator of the diocese until the ordination of Bishop-elect Hartmayer.

Bishop-elect Hartmayer’s most recent assignment was as pastor of St. John Vianney Parish in Lithia Springs, Georgia. A native of Buffalo, New York he spent 16 years of his 32 years of priesthood in Catholic high school education and the past 16 years in parish ministry.

He will become the 14th Bishop of the Savannah Diocese, which was founded in 1850.

The Savannah Diocese includes 38,000 square miles in 90 counties in South Georgia.